Local natural resources are central to rural livelihoods across much of the developing world. Such “natural capital” represents one of several types of assets available to households as they craft livelihood strategies. In order to explore the potential for environmental scarcity and change to contribute to perpetuation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we examine the association between declining natural capital and engaging in risky sexual behaviors, as potentially another livelihood strategy. Such association has been demonstrated in Kenya and Tanzania, through the fish-for-sex trade. To explore the possibility of this connection within rural Haitian livelihoods we use Demographic and Health Survey data, with a focus on rural women, combined with vegetation measures generated from satellite imagery. We find that lack of condom use in recent sexual encounters is associated with local environmental scarcity – controlling for respondent age, education, religion and knowledge of AIDS preventive measures. The results suggest that explicit consideration of the environmental dimensions of HIV/AIDS may be of relevance in scholarship examining factors shaping the pandemic.
BACKGROUND
Although natural resources play a central role in rural livelihoods
across the globe, little research has explored the relationship between
migration and natural capital use, particularly in combination with other
livelihood capitals (i.e., human, social, financial and physical).
OBJECTIVE
Grounded in the rural livelihood framework, this paper explores the
association between the livelihood capital availability, especially natural
capital, for migrants and non-migrants in rural Madagascar.
METHODS
Data from the 2008/2009 Demographic and Health Survey are used in
combination with satellite imagery of vegetation coverage (Normalized
Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) to proxy natural resources. Hierarchical
multilevel models allow for inclusion of cross-level interactions between
migrant status and proximate natural resources as determinants of the status
of livelihood assets.
RESULTS
Three key findings emerge. First, higher levels of proximate natural
resources are associated with greater financial, human, and social capital
for both migrants and non-migrants. Second, migrants have, on average,
greater financial, physical, human, and social capital than non-migrants,
and urban-to-rural migrants do exceptionally well on all capital asset
categories. Third, migrants residing in areas with higher levels of natural
capital tend to have significantly higher levels of human capital
(education).
CONCLUSION
Although we cannot examine livelihood strategies per se, the results
suggest variation in livelihood potential among migrants and non-migrants in
rural Madagascar, with migrants tending to have greater capital assets. In
addition, access to natural resources is a central livelihood strategy.
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